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ACSP Suggestion 2008.6: ARIN Lists and Cloture Procedures

Suggestion

In response to recent events on arin-discuss, and associated on- and off-list complaints about SNR, I move that ARIN lists would benefit from cloture procedures. Proposal:

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1. Any member in good standing may request a thread-kill vote:

a. via a user-authenticated section on ARIN's website;

b. once within a 30-day moving window;

c. for a thread discussed on any list to which s/he is subscribed;

d. without regard to posting priviliges or participation level.

2. Upon request per (1):

a. a "motion to kill thread" announcement shall be sent to the list;

b. the "time of announcement" shall be the time that ARIN MXes finish conversation with the last-contacted subscriber MX, without regard to 2xx/4xx/5xx/other status.

3. Votes must be cast within 48 hours of (2).

4. A two-thirds majority of the votes cast via (3) shall be required to kill a thread.

5. In the event that two-thirds of list subscribers vote in favor of killing a thread before deadline (3) has expired, the necessary majority is inevitable, and the thread shall be killed immediately.

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Cloture is intended for exigent cases, such as those where a small minority of members refuses to honor reasonable requests to cease discussion.

In such cases, however, client-side email filtering is insufficient. The status quo allows individual "rabble-rousers" to alienate, annoy, and drive away other ARIN members who might otherwise contribute useful insights and commentary.

I believe that cloture also would help clarify the level of subscriber interest on a given topic: Given enough "kill" votes, it becomes evident that a discussion has outlived its welcome. If the necessary majority is not obtained, one may interpret that as a manifest for the discussion to continue.

Note that the above suggestion is a rough draft. Others may suggest more suitable numeric values than 30 days, 48 hours, and two-thirds majority.

Timeframe: Six-Months

Status:

Completed

Updated:

22 February 2008

Tracking Information

ARIN Comment

22 February 2008

Prior to receiving this suggestion for ARIN to provide a cloture or "thread-kill" mechanism for ARIN mailing lists, ARIN staff and the ARIN General Counsel had undertaken the task to make changes to the current mailing list Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP"). The new AUP will provide clarity to prohibited activities on the ARIN mail lists and an enforcement mechanism. The ARIN Board of Trustees will take up this matter at their next meeting. It is anticipated that this new AUP will be released prior to the upcoming ARIN meeting in Denver.